Create Superior Customer Experiences

This week, I’m stepping away from last week’s column on increasing average order value in your call center to share a personal experience from which all multichannel marketers can learn. Next week, I’ll be back with part two of that series. I felt this was topic was so fresh in my mind that it would be worth saving the second part until next week.

I enjoy mixing things up in my weekly column; after all, I need to keep it fresh more than 50 times a year. As a teacher of direct marketing, I take my marketing cues from many sources. So when I see something in the world of noncatalog marketing that inspires me — something I feel can offer some good takeaway lessons — I feel obligated to share it with you.

That said, this week’s article looks at creating a totally unique customer experience that drives customer loyalty beyond what we normally think of in our industry.

Last week I got home from a Western Caribbean cruise. Normally I hate cruises. I know some people love them, but to me I feel like a rat trapped in a maze. That’s until I ran into a company called Cloud 9 Adventures and the Jam Cruise!

Imagine if you will a medium-sized cruise ship filled with about 2,000 passengers; 20 or so of the best funk, jam and jazz bands on the planet; and an extra half-dozen or so “roving” musicians. All playing day and night on a five-night cruise. Welcome to the Jam Cruise (www.jamcruise.com), an innovation in theme-based cruises that brings together travel and entertainment in one package. (Of course, it didn’t hurt that I’m a huge music buff.)

From a marketing perspective, however, in just five years Cloud 9 has developed a phenomenon that sells out months in advance. Its many advanced bookings are a testament to the positive customer experience from which it gains remarkable degrees of loyalty and customer advocacy.